Jeff Deeter, 30, moved to Alaska with his parents at the age of six. His mom took a job teaching in Norvik. Jeff says, “That was my first exposure to sled dogs, and I was immediately hooked. I began seriously mushing at age 15 with family friends, Frank and Claudia Sihler. I ran my first Iditarod at age 19 in 2008, then took a 10 year break. I used that time to figure out what I wanted to do with my adult life. After attempting college and realizing it wasn’t for me, I met my wife, KattiJo, and we started building a kennel together. In 2013 we opened Black Spruce Dog Sledding, a home-based tour business that introduces people to mushing and the unique lifestyle that surrounds the sport. This year-round tour business allows us and our dogs to do what we love every day. In 2018, I returned to Iditarod with a pretty young group of dogs. It was the toughest race I’ve run to date, with multiple snow storms, high winds and warm temperatures. It was also some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a race. I enjoy being in bad weather because it makes me feel removed from the rest of the world, and allows me to really focus on the immediate situation and the animals in my care. Being in the bad weather is the ultimate test of the trust between a musher and their dogs. It’s a great way to challenge our team and ourselves. Ironically, those conditions have made me more excited than ever to run Iditarod again this year. I’m looking forward to running a stronger, tougher, more experienced dog team in this year’s race.” Jeff lists his hobbies as Home design and building, animal husbandry, yard work, running, snowboarding, ax-throwing.